A SCRAP dealer who paid just £61 for £16,000 worth of musical instruments stolen from a Welsh brass band captured himself crushing them on CCTV.

Police investigating the theft from Pontarddulais Town Band’s headquarters just outside Swansea shortly before Christmas 2009 found the CCTV at Egan Metals had not been disabled.

The film was played to a jury who found 34-year-old Marcus Egan, who runs Egan Metals in Gorseinon, Swansea, guilty of handling stolen goods.

At Swansea Crown Court yesterday Egan, of Brunant Road, Gorseinon, who had denied the charge, was given a six month jail term suspended for 21 months and was ordered to pay the band £500 compensation.

He also had to pay £2,800 prosecution costs.

After three burglars arrived at Egan Metals on December 7 last year with the tuba, gong, cymbals and other instruments, band chairman Nigel Buist who heard of the break-in rang Egan to “look out” for stolen brass instruments.

Seconds later Egan ordered an employee to place the instruments into an hydraulic crusher.

Police saw the whole thing, including the burglars arriving at the yard, on Egan’s CCTV.

He wrote in his metals book:”61k of brass, paid £1 per Kilo, total £61.”